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Monthly Archives: January 2014

A ferry leaves Tres Puntas dock in Punta Arenas each morning filled with an international population of almost 100 tourists. After surging across a vast expanse of blue water, the boat drops the people off on Isla Magdalena, a small island populated by Magellanic Penguins and other seabirds. While the people are confined to a six-foot-wide pathway leading to a lighthouse, the penguins have full control of the land. Burrows, densely scattered about, house penguin families where fluffy grey chicks are just beginning to peek out. A waddle of the black and white birds waddle and splash near the shoreline and others watch the humans walking by.

This popular tourist attraction brings in thousands of people each year, and the penguins still enjoy their little dot of land.

A monogamous pair of penguins “kiss” on Isla Magdalena on Dec. 10, 2013. The males make their nests in burrows that cover the island.

Magellanic Penguins dot the landscape of Isle Magdalena where a tour group takes a ferry to visit the birds. The penguins usually live to be about 25 years old, unless they are eaten by a sea lion.

Humans and Magellanic Penguins share a space while the people tour the penguin’s habitat on Isla Magdalena on Dec. 10, 2013. The penguins usually live to be about 25 years old, unless they are eaten by a sea lion. The birds are monogamous and the males make their nests in burrows that cover the landscape.

Magellanic Penguins dot the landscape of Isle Magdalena where a tour group takes a ferry to visit the birds. The penguins usually live to be about 25 years old, unless they are eaten by a sea lion.

People take pictures of a Magellanic penguin entering its nest on Isla Magdalena on Dec. 10, 2013. The penguins usually live to be about 25 years old, unless they are eaten by a sea lion. The birds are monogamous and the males make their nests in burrows that cover the landscape.

A seagull protects her eggs resting in her nest near the trail by flapping her wings in people’s faces if they get too close.

Magellanic penguins usually live to be about 25 years old, unless they are eaten by a sea lion. This bird survived a sea lion attack, but didn’t come away without wounds.

Magellanic Penguins mosey around Isle Magdalena on Dec. 10, 2013. The penguins usually live to be about 25 years old, unless they are eaten by a sea lion. The birds are monogamous and the males make their nests in burrows that cover the landscape.

Halloween is a U.S. specific holiday, so it’s an important day for English classes abroad. I had the opportunity to spend the holiday in Argentina with my cousin who teaches English. The students were stoked to dress up and eat candy, although a lot of them discarded their masks during class. They learned vocabulary such as “witch,” “ghost,” “pumpkin,” “monster,” “skeleton” and how to trick-or-treat. Even though it was my first Halloween not dressing up (and I love dressing up) I had fun helping the children learn English and taking pictures of the holiday during class.

English students play “Boo,” a Halloween-themed game similar to Redlight, Greenlight on Oct. 31, 2013. Dora Nuss-Warren teaches students English in small private classes out of her home in Los Antiguos, Argentina. Halloween is an important holiday for English students because it is not a celebrated holiday in Argentina.

Dora Nuss-Warren helps her English students create Halloween-themed words in small private classes out of her home in Los Antiguos, Argentina on Oct. 31, 2013. Halloween is an important holiday for English students because it is not a celebrated holiday in Argentina.

Dora Nuss-Warren hands out treats to her English students as they practice Trick-or-treating during class on Oct. 31, 2013. Halloween is an important holiday for English students because it is not a celebrated holiday in Argentina.

Dora Nuss-Warren helps her student find Halloween-themed words in a word search during a small private classe out of her home in Los Antiguos, Argentina on Oct. 31, 2013. Halloween is an important holiday for English students because it is not a celebrated holiday in Argentina.

Dora Nuss-Warren tells a scary story during an English class at her home in Los Antiguos, Argentina on Oct. 31, 2013. Halloween is an important holiday for English students because it is not a celebrated holiday in Argentina.

Dora Nuss-Warren makes pizza at her home in Los Antiguos, Argentina. Her home also serves as a DVD Rental shop and an English classroom.

Here’s a little feature I shot the other night while walking home. I guess a stationary fire hydrant is better than nothing to practice roping. He told me that even though his friends offered to be moving targets for his lasso, he didn’t want to hurt them with the stiff rope.

Forrest Hicks, 18, practices roping a fire hydrant outside of Nash Hall at Western Washington University on Jan. 15, 2013.

On a break from my studies in Santiago, Chile I traveled to a small town in the Aysén region where I spent my days falling in love with the second largest lake in South America, Lago General Carrera in Chile and Lago Buenos Aires in Argentina. I took a ferry across the lake from Chile Chico to Puerto Ibañez to get back to the airport on a sunny, windy day.

From above the water on a boat the deep blue that shimmered into a bright teal was even more powerful than from the shore. I spent most of my time looking out across the lake at the jagged mountains, feeling the wind slap my hair across my face. Before I stepped into the moment to simply experience the ride I took some photos of the preparations to leave, and arrive, after the two hour trip.

Workers on the ferry from Chile Chico, Chile to Puerto Ibañez, Chile pull in the rope keeping the boat secure at the dock on Nov. 1, 2013. The ferry takes cars and passengers across Lago General Carrera daily.

Workers prepare to reel in the anchor on the ferry from Chile Chico, Chile to Puerto Ibañez, Chile on Nov. 1, 2013. The ferry takes cars and passengers across Lago General Carrera daily.

Cerro Piramide shows through a porthole on a daily ferry takes cars and passengers across Lago General Carrera on Nov. 1, 2013.